Kiribati work visa

Essential skills visas cover employees with a job offer from a Kiribati employer. Specific purpose or event visas cover managers or specialists of overseas companies on short secondments, intra-corporate transferees, contractual or independent service suppliers, business visitors who need more than three months a year, installers of specialist equipment supplied from overseas, referees or judges at sports events, shows or exhibitions, and media and film crews.

Religious worker visas need a completed Sponsorship Form for Religious Workers. Domestic workers of consulate staff need a signed statement of undertaking from the employer guaranteeing employment, accommodation, maintenance and repatriation, and the worker's signed declaration of acceptance of the conditions.

Work means any activity for gain or reward, including payment in board, lodging, goods or services such as transport. Short business visits by specified business persons, official government or intergovernmental business, guests of the Government and specific activities by visiting academics or researchers are not work. Full-time employment means at least 30 hours a week.

An essential skills visa is granted only if no Kiribati citizens or residents are available for the job, meaning none is suitable or trained for it; the employer must show a genuine attempt to recruit locally. The job must be genuine, sustainable, full-time for the whole contract and paid in wages or salary. The written offer must give the employer's name, address and phone, the workplace address, duties, pay, hours, conditions, required qualifications, the duration of the job and how long the offer stays open.

Every applicant provides the signed form, the fee, two colour passport photos, the passport, medical certificates and police certificates if required, a job offer with job description, pay and conditions, and evidence of qualifications and work experience relevant to the job. Police certificates are required from the country of citizenship and any country lived in for five years or more since age 17 when the planned stay is 24 months or longer.

Work visa applicants show at least one of: a salary the officer considers enough for living costs and housing, an employer guarantee of maintenance and accommodation, their own funds for the visa period, or sponsorship by a relative or friend in Kiribati. Proof of leaving may be requested: a ticket out of Kiribati, written confirmation from an airline or travel agency that travel is paid, sponsorship, or the employer's written repatriation guarantee.

Complete the work visa form (applicants who already hold a Kiribati work visa skip the employment history section), ask the visa officer for the fee and payment method, and send the form with copies of the documents to the Immigration Division. Health questions check that the applicant is unlikely to be a danger to public health or a burden on Kiribati's health services.

An essential skills visa is first granted for one year; further visas follow the length of the job offer up to three years in total. Work visas usually limit the holder to a specified occupation, employer and location. A single journey visa is normally valid for travel within one month of the intended arrival date; a multiple journey visa, for holders with a valid passport and no past breaches, can last up to five years depending on the contract. Employers must pay at least the minimum wage, meet leave and safety rules and employ only people entitled to work, or face prosecution under section 114 of the Immigration Act.

The work visa form cannot be used for a partner or dependent children. Dependent children of essential skills or religious worker visa holders apply on the visitor or student visa form, with evidence that the parent is eligible to support them.

Partners of Kiribati citizens or resident visa holders can themselves get a work visa if the couple live together in a genuine and stable relationship and will be in Kiribati for the same period; officers check the partner's citizenship or residence and the relationship. Domestic staff of diplomatic, consular or official staff (cooks, nannies, drivers, gardeners) must be over 18, may not take other work or formal study, and receive a multiple journey visa tied to the employer's posting.